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Portrait Figurative Paintings

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Art Subject: Portrait
To Illinois - Original oil painting by William Blake
Located in Chicago, IL
Blake's painting imagines a quiet moment about the Sultana, a steamboat carrying Union POWs home at the end of the Civil War. Hours later, the vessel exploded, killing over a thousan...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Look Up, Figurative, Original oil Painting, Ready to Hang
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: Oleg Kateryniuk Work: Original oil painting, handmade artwork, one of a kind Medium: Oil on Canvas Year: 2022 Style: Figurative Art Title: Lo...
Category

2010s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Culture 9 -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Women, Fashion, Eyes
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authent...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Ribera workshop (Baroque master) - 17th century figure painting - Saint Joseph
By Jusepe de Ribera
Located in Varmo, IT
Jusepe de Ribera (Xàtiva 1591 - Naples 1652) circle of - San Giuseppe. 108 x 80 cm without frame, 123 x 95 cm with frame. Antique oil painting on canvas, in a carved and gilded woo...
Category

Mid-17th Century Baroque Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Summer Vibes
Located in Zofingen, AG
These two have no plans for the future. They only have now. And honestly — that’s more than enough. Somewhere along the way, adults lose that magic: when a day is just a day. No goa...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Portrait 25-5, Original Painting
Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist Comments
A stylized portrait of a woman emerges from a stark black background. Colorful dots construct her face and upper body, forming subtle contours and shadows tha...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Vague
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
No room for doubt come out to the light, flee from that past that keeps hunting you down. You don’t need to hide anymore, you’re a precious jewel. Painting Ships in a well-protected...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Charcoal, Acrylic

Vague
Vague
$2,300 Sale Price
20% Off
Escuela española (XVIII) - Óleo sobre tela - San Juan Bautista
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
Escuela Española siglo XVIII Se trata de un óleo sobre tela representando a San Juan Bautista Se presenta sin enmarcar la obra Medidas: 104 x 83 cm. El estado se puede ver, pres...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Untitled Portrait II (Modern, Academic Style Portrait Painting of a Young Man)
Located in Hudson, NY
Modern, academic style portrait painting on canvas of a young athletic male oil on canvas, 26 x 17 inches in antique wood frame This vertical, contemporary portrait painting of sin...
Category

2010s Academic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

"Internal Dialogue" Haute Couture Sunglasses Pop Art Oil Painting on Canvas
Located in New York, NY
This painting depicts a pop art portrait of a woman in Haute Couture Chanel Sunglasses with the lettering "OMG" repeated on the right side of her face. A commentary on the social lan...
Category

2010s American Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

English School Portrait of a Woman
Located in Astoria, NY
English School, Portrait of a Woman with Ruffled Collar and Hat with Feathers, Oil on Wood Panel, early 19th Century, unsigned and unframed. 7.5" H x 5.75" W. Provenance: The Upper E...
Category

Early 19th Century English School Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Wood Panel

Portrait of man
Located in PARIS, FR
Alexandre Falguière (attribué à) (1831 - 1900) Oil on canvas 135,2 x 95 cm (169 x 129 cm with frame) 53.2 × 37.4 in (66.5 × 50.8 in with frame) Without Signature
Category

19th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Tenderness
Located in Atlanta, GA
Small limited edition run of 49 and 6 E.A."s (Edition of the artist). Each canvas reproduction is crafted by a skilled printer under the supervision of the artist. Román Francés has...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Giclée

Tenderness
Tenderness
$240 Sale Price
20% Off
Untitled
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Untitled
Untitled
$2,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Unspoken Chapters -21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Modern Women
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube. This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Elie HATUNGIMAN...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

[Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Two Men with Rope and a Tree, Contemporary Painting
Located in New York, NY
Signed, u.r. Oil on canvas mounted to Masonite 80 x 32 inches
Category

2010s Contemporary Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Masonite, Oil

Inner Light - 21st Century Contemporary, Expressionist Portrait, African Woman
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Young Woman Sleeping (artist showed in major Paris exhibitions), Framed
Located in New Orleans, LA
For me, this reclining nude spectacularly captures 1920's Paris, in life and art, at least as I understand it from the many books I have read focusing on that magical period. The mo...
Category

1920s Nude Paintings

Materials

Oil

17th Century Dutch Old Master Oil Painting Wood Panel Figures in Tavern Interior
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
'Topers in a Tavern' Circle of Jacob Toorenvliet (Dutch 1635 - 1719) oil on panel, framed framed: 9 x 7 inches panel: 7.5 x 6 inches provenance: priv...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

In solitude by the sea
Located in Zofingen, AG
"In solitude by the sea" is an original oil painting on canvas that captures a quiet moment on the beach. Soft brushstrokes and a delicate expression evoke solitude and introspection...
Category

2010s Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

Contemporary abstract expressionist woman's portrait "Woman with ruby drops"
Located in VÉNISSIEUX, FR
This contemporary expressionist portrait of a woman was created by French artist Natalya Mougenot. It is part of her ongoing series dedicated to Women — a deeply personal journey thr...
Category

2010s Abstract Portrait Paintings

Materials

Paper, Acrylic

Characterful Portrait French Man with Hat & Pipe Signed & Dated 1903 Oil Paint
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Man with a Hat holding a Pipe French School, signed and dated 1903 oil on canvas, unframed canvas: 21.75 x 18 inches provenance: private collection, France condition: s...
Category

Early 1900s Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Jose antonio, Martes 7 de julio, Figurative painting
Located in Miami Beach, FL
Drawing on paper is his basic work tool, some are sketches of his surviving works, others are sketches of moments he documents. Undefined by medium, Celso Castro’s works each carry...
Category

1990s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Crayon, Pastel, Paper

Portrait of a Man with Bold Features Blue Sketch Original French Artwork
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Original French Artwork signed initials by Robert Ladou (French 1929-2014) original oil pastel painting on artist paper, framed overall size: 15.5 x 12.5 inches size: 9.5 x 8 inche...
Category

20th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil Pastel

"Untangle" (2023) by Michelle Jader, Original Oil Painting on Acrylic Panel
Located in Denver, CO
Michelle Jader's "Untangle" is an original, handmade oil painting on 3 acrylic panels that depicts the flowing motion of a woman entangled in her own hair.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Mirror, Oil, Panel

Green Bubble-Faced Portrait with Ornate Frame - Ancestor Clones #16 Bubbles Aunt
Located in FISTERRA, ES
This distinctive acrylic painting by Natasha Lelenco from her acclaimed series Ancestor Clones presents a captivating portrait characterized by a symbolic face composed entirely of s...
Category

2010s Pop Art Portrait Paintings

Materials

Metal

Threshold - Large Scale Painting of a Nude Male Seated on a Green Chaise Lounge
Located in Chicago, IL
An intimate moment is interrupted as the viewer gazes upon this scene. Thresholds, a portrait of a nude male sitting upon a green chaise lounge with his eyes cast down in deep thought, is illuminated by an unknown light source highlighting his finely sculptured physique. This use of strong directional light is a hallmark of Hall's paintings. Nathan Brad Hall...
Category

2010s Nude Paintings

Materials

Linen, Oil

Portrait of Two Children
Located in Milford, NH
A wonderful early 19th century large oil on canvas naive portrait of two children, a boy and a girl, attributed to American artist Arthur Armstrong (1798-1851). Armstrong was born in...
Category

19th Century Folk Art Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vintage Nude Study -- Reclining Male
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful vintage reclining male nude study by Patricia E. Gillfillan (American, 1924-2016), c.1980s. From a collection of her works. Unsigned. Unframed...
Category

1980s American Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Renew - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Children Art, Jewellery
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity (Issued by the Gal...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

The Reader of the Koran, exotic orientalist work
Located in New York, NY
Hovsep Pushman is celebrated for romantic and exotic subjects such as Nubian princesses, Kurdish tribesmen, itinerant gypsies, and in our example a noble Reader of the Koran. Many of...
Category

1910s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Open Road Ballad
Located in Zofingen, AG
A striking composition that fuses American nostalgia with contemporary energy. A red barn with a flag, a vintage light-blue car, and a young woman in denim holding a drink embody f...
Category

2010s Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Cotton Canvas, Acrylic

Antique French Impressionist Signed Oil Painting Portrait of Young Man
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Young Man French School, late 19th century indistinctly signed top right, 'Valadon'? oil on canvas, framed framed: 30 x 28 inches canvas: 26 x 21 inches private collect...
Category

Late 19th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Blond Child in Red Dress Reading Snow White to Elf - Fairy Tale
Located in Miami, FL
Maud Tausey Fangel - Baby Painter. In profile, we see a charming, young, ruddy-cheeked, blond girl with pig tales in a bright red-orange dress. She is reading Snow White as a sma...
Category

1940s Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Pastel, Board

Factory Worker
Located in Los Angeles, CA
This painting is part of our exhibition America Coast to Coast: Artists of the 1930s Factory Worker, c. 1936, oil on canvas, signed lower right, 18 ¼ x 36 inches; exhibited in City ...
Category

1930s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Woman - 21st Century Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, African Woman on Red Hat
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authent...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Ecole de Paris, Post Impressionist Portrait of a Fashionable Young Woman
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 20th Century oil on canvas portrait of stylish young woman by the noted Franco Spanish artist Pere Modesto Luis Creixams. The painting is signed bottom left and presented in a ve...
Category

Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Don't Look Back, Your Life Isn't There Anymore -21st Century, Contemporary Women
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Eli...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Gustaf Höglund: Self-Study (1939), a Rare and Striking Early Self-Portrait
Located in Stockholm, SE
Gustaf Höglund (1910-1994) Sweden Självstudie (Self Study), 1939 signed and dated lower left oil on canvas unframed 71 × 31 cm (28 × 12.2 in) framed 79 × 39 cm (31.1 × 15.4 in) T...
Category

1930s Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

1850's Large Mid 19th Century French Portrait of a Young Gentleman Signed Oil
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The French Gentleman by Paul Goubil (French mid 19th century) signed and dated 1855 oil on canvas, framed framed: 30.5 x 25 inches canvas: 29 x 24 inches Provenance: private collecti...
Category

Mid-19th Century French School Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Afrocentric Radiance
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
In a vibrant celebration of African heritage and beauty, our protagonist, a stunning black African woman, graces the scene with her majestic presence. Crowned with a voluminous afro ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Fabric, Canvas, Oil, Mixed Media

Head Wrap
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube. This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. Head wrap...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Head Wrap
Head Wrap
$2,600 Sale Price
35% Off
Militar - Óleo sobre tela
Located in Sant Celoni, ES
La obra va firmada en firma apócrifa y fechada del año 1899 La obra se presenta enmarcada (el marco tiene las esquinas un poco separadas y despegadas) Medidas obra: 55 cm. De altur...
Category

1890s Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Mid Century French Drawing of a Classical Bald Male Bust
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Title: Mid Century French Male Bust Artist: Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) Medium: Pencil/ charcoal on artists paper Size: 19 (height) x 12.5 (width) Stamped: Verso Condition:...
Category

Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Charcoal, Pencil

Antique French Impressionist Self Portrait of Artist 1900's Oil Painting canvas
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Self Portrait of the Artist by René PIROLA (French, 1878 - 1912) stamped with artists mark oil on canvas, framed framed: 27 x 22 inches canvas: 26 x 21.5 inches Provenance: private ...
Category

Early 20th Century Post-Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

Surely I Will Fly - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Women, Bird, Oil
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
“Surely I Will Fly” is a vibrant and hopeful expression of the human spirit's innate desire for freedom and transcendence. This painting represents the moment when we spread our wing...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

I Might Grow to Be Kinder - Intimate Portrayal of a Couple Embracing
Located in Chicago, IL
Using pornography as a vehicle for understanding, Rick Sindt's work explores the discovery and development of queer attraction. Sindt transforms pornographi...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Panel

Love Never End - 21st Century, Contemporary, Realist Portrait, Black Woman
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
It all started when we both met years back. I loved you and you loved me too. Our love journey began and was full of joy, love, peace and happiness! You showered me with the love I ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

Ubuntu (The Essence of Humanity - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative, Women
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube. This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Adebayo Taiwo, ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Portrait of Benedict Arnold
By Ralph Earl
Located in Fredericksburg, VA
This portrait, attributed to the American painter Ralph Earl, captures Benedict Arnold, one of the most controversial figures of the American Revolutionary War. Ralph Earl, known for...
Category

Mid-18th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Belle Epoque French Impressionist 19th Century Oil Painting Portrait of Elegant
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of an Elegant Beauty French Impressionist painter, circa 1890s signed indistinctly oil on canvas, framed framed: 28 x 23 inches canvas: 24 x 20 inches provenance: private c...
Category

Late 19th Century Impressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

'Portrait of a Man', oil on canvas by Jozef Isräels
Located in London, GB
Jozef Isräels (1824-1911) 'Portrait of a Man' ‍ Oil on canvas 72 x 57 cm, 90 x 77 cm (framed) 1861 Signed and dated middle left 'J. Israels 1861' Jozef Israëls was considered the l...
Category

1860s Realist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

French 1930s Art Deco Society Portrait, Lady with a Diamond Earring.
Located in Cotignac, FR
French Art Deco, oil on canvas, society female portrait by Dembinkski (probably Anton J.) Signed, dated and located (Paris) bottom left. In later wood and gilt frame. A charming and...
Category

1930s Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Untitled 4 - 21st Century, Contemporary, Figurative Portrait, Modern, Women
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure Ships in a well-protected tube This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity. About Artist Born in 1993 in...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Audrey "I Believe" Large Textural Original Audrey Hepburn Pastel Oil Painting
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Christina Major’s "Audrey - I Believe" is a mesmerizing contemporary portrait that blends realism with expressive text overlays, creating a visually and emotionally compelling artwork. This 84 x 57-inch painting captures the timeless grace of Audrey Hepburn, her luminous features emerging from a soft, ethereal palette of cool blues, warm peaches, and gentle neutrals. Layered over her serene expression are hand-painted phrases inspired by Hepburn’s wisdom and humanitarian legacy, adding depth and narrative to the composition. The interplay between the hyperrealistic portraiture and textured text invites viewers to engage with both the subject’s beauty and the empowering messages woven into the piece, making it a captivating addition for collectors of figurative art, contemporary paintings, and pop culture iconography. Christina Major is a portrait painter interested in the ways the identity of both artist and subject can coexist in a painting. Major's current creative research focuses on the traditional form of the portrait as a powerful form of representing an individual and how meaning can be expanded through scale, brushstroke, color, texture, composition, and the many variables that portraiture deals with. This one-of-a-kind oil painting is 84 inches tall and 57 inches wide. It is signed by Major on the back. The artwork is wired and ready to hang. It does not require framing. Free local Los Angeles area delivery. Affordable Continental U.S. and International shipping are also available. A certificate of authenticity issued by the art gallery is included. Major expands the traditional portrait painting...
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Purpose of Existence 10
Located in Ibadan, Oyo
Shipping Procedure FREE Shipping Worldwide Ships in a well-protected tube from Nigeria This work is unique, not a print or other type of copy. Accompanied by a Certificate of Authent...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

Portrait of a Parisian Woman
Located in London, GB
Nicolle was born in Zimbabwe (Rhodesia as it was then) and grew up in Africa and then travelled the world for some years before settling in the Uk. “My love of colour stems from my ...
Category

2010s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Chalk, Mixed Media, Acrylic

Antique German Signed Oil Painting Portrait of Bavarian Gentleman with Pipe
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Bavarian Gentleman with Pipe by Theodor Recknagl (1865-1945) German signed oil on board, framed board : 7 x 5.5 inches Provenance: private collection, UK Condition: som...
Category

Late 19th Century Victorian Portrait Paintings

Materials

Oil

'Sketching Wisconsin' original oil painting, Signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
John Steuart Curry "Sketching Wisconsin," 1946 oil on canvas 31.13 x 28 inches, canvas 39.75 x 36.75 x 2.5 inches, frame Signed and dated lower right Overall excellent condition Presented in a 24-karat gold leaf hand-carved wood frame John Steuart Curry (1897-1946) was an American regionalist painter active during the Great Depression and into World War II. He was born in Kansas on his family’s farm but went on to study art in Chicago, Paris and New York as young man. In Paris, he was exposed to the work of masters such as Peter Paul Rubens, Eugène Delacroix and Jacques-Louis David. As he matured, his work showed the influence of these masters, especially in his compositional decisions. Like the two other Midwestern regionalist artists that are most often grouped with him, Grant Wood (American, 1891-1942) and Thomas Hart Benton (American, 1889-1975), Curry was interested in representational works containing distinctly American subject matter. This was contrary to the popular art at the time, which was moving closer and closer to abstraction and individual expression. Sketching Wisconsin is an oil painting completed in 1946, the last year of John Steuart Curry’s life, during which time he was the artist-in-residence at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The painting is significant in Curry’s body of work both as a very revealing self-portrait, and as a landscape that clearly and sensitively depicts the scenery of southern Wisconsin near Madison. It is also a portrait of the artist’s second wife, Kathleen Gould Curry, and is unique in that it contains a ‘picture within a picture,’ a compositional element that many early painting masters used to draw the eye of the viewer. This particular artwork adds a new twist to this theme: Curry’s wife is creating essentially the same painting the viewer is looking at when viewing Sketching Wisconsin. The triangular composition of the figures in the foreground immediately brings focus to a younger Curry, whose head penetrates the horizon line and whose gaze looks out towards the viewer. The eye then moves down to Mrs. Curry, who, seated on a folding stool and with her hand raised to paint the canvas on the easel before her, anchors the triangular composition. The shape is repeated in the legs of the stool and the easel. Behind the two figures, stripes of furrowed fields fall away gently down the hillside to a farmstead and small lake below. Beyond the lake, patches of field and forest rise and fall into the distance, and eventually give way to blue hills. Here, Curry has subverted the traditional artist’s self-portrait by portraying himself as a farmer first and an artist second. He rejects what he sees as an elitist art world of the East Coast and Europe. In this self-portrait he depicts himself without any pretense or the instruments of his profession and with a red tractor standing in the field behind him as if he was taking a break from the field work. Here, Curry’s wife symbolizes John Steuart Curry’s identity as an artist. Compared with a self-portrait of the artist completed a decade earlier, this work shows a marked departure from how the artist previously presented and viewed himself. In the earlier portrait, Curry depicted himself in the studio with brushes in hand, and with some of his more recognizable and successful canvases behind him. But in Sketching Wisconsin, Curry has taken himself out of the studio and into the field, indicating a shift in the artist’s self-conception. Sketching Wisconsin’s rural subject also expresses Curry’s populist ideals, that art could be relevant to anyone. This followed the broad educational objectives of UW’s artist-in-residence program. Curry was appointed to his position at the University of Wisconsin in 1937 and was the first person to hold any such position in the country, the purpose of which was to serve as an educational resource to the people of the state. He embraced his role at the University with zeal and not only opened the doors of his campus studio in the School of Agriculture to the community, but also spent a great deal of time traveling around the state of Wisconsin to visit rural artists who could benefit from his expertise. It was during his ten years in the program that Curry was able to put into practice his belief that art should be meaningful to the rural populace. However, during this time he also struggled with public criticism, as the dominant forces of the art market were moving away from representation. Perhaps it was Curry’s desire for public acceptance during the latter part of his career that caused him to portray himself as an Everyman in Sketching Wisconsin. Beyond its importance as a portrait of the artist, Sketching Wisconsin is also a detailed and sensitive landscape that shows us Curry’s deep personal connection to his environment. The landscape here can be compared to Wisconsin Landscape of 1938-39 (the Metropolitan Museum of Art), which presents a similar tableau of rolling hills with a patchwork of fields. Like Wisconsin Landscape, this is an incredibly detailed and expressive depiction of a place close to the artist’s heart. This expressive landscape is certainly the result of many hours spent sketching people, animals, weather conditions and topography of Wisconsin as Curry traveled around the state. The backdrop of undulating hills and the sweeping horizon, and the emotions evoked by it, are emphatically recognizable as the ‘driftless’ area of south-central Wisconsin. But while the Metropolitan’s Wisconsin Landscape conveys a sense of uncertainty or foreboding with its dramatic spring cloudscape and alternating bands of light and dark, Sketching Wisconsin has a warm and reflective mood. The colors of the foliage indicate that it is late summer and Curry seems to look out at the viewer approvingly, as if satisfied with the fertile ground surrounding him. The landscape in Sketching Wisconsin is also revealing of what became one of Curry’s passions while artist-in-residence at UW’s School of Agriculture – soil conservation. When Curry was a child in Kansas, he saw his father almost lose his farm and its soil to the erosion of The Dust Bowl. Therefore, he was very enthusiastic about ideas from UW’s School of Agriculture on soil conservation methods being used on Wisconsin farms. In Sketching Wisconsin, we see evidence of crop rotation methods in the terraced stripes of fields leading down the hillside away from the Curry’s and in how they alternate between cultivated and fallow fields. Overall, Sketching Wisconsin has a warm, reflective, and comfortably pastoral atmosphere, and the perceived shift in Curry’s self-image that is evident in the portrait is a positive one. After his rise to favor in the art world in the 1930’s, and then rejection from it due to the strong beliefs presented in his art, Curry is satisfied and proud to be farmer in this self-portrait. Curry suffered from high blood...
Category

1940s American Realist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of a Young Man With Ray of Sunshine Beaming Original French Artwork
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Original French Artwork by Robert Ladou (French 1929-2014) original acrylic painting on paper, unframed size: 12 x 10 inches condition: very good provenance: from the artists estate...
Category

20th Century Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

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